– Cole and Miz welcome us to the show and pimp the Rumble, which is only a week and a half away. Orton’s music hits and it looks like we’re heading straight to our main event. I’ll take it!

Antonio Cesaro vs. Randy Orton

These two packed a whole lot of action into five and a half minutes on Smackdown. Let’s see what they can do with a lengthy Main Event match. The bell rings and the two tangle. Side headlock by Orton takes the Swiss Superstar down. Cesaro powers out and they lock up again. Isn’t it great seeing Cesaro hang with the main event acts? I’m still adjusting to it. Both men are struggling to win this grapple before Cesaro hits a cheap toe kick and corners Randy. He follows through with some uppercuts before Orton hits the Thesz press to stop Cesaro’s momentum. Orton comes back with some uppercuts of his own. PSYCHOLOGY~! We’re outside now and Cesaro drops Randy chest first on to the barricade. Cesaro rolls in Orton and covers him for TWO. Cesaro charges at Orton but Orton tosses him back to the outside. Miz announces on commentary that he’ll be in the rumble. Orton drops Cesaro rib first on to the barricade. Cesaro tricks Orton into chasing him and sends him into the ring steps as we head to our first commercial break!

~commercial break~

We’re back as Orton fights his way out of a headlock. Cesaro doesn’t let Orton take advantage of his comeback though and dead lifts him up for the gut wrench suplex. It really seems like Orton has been going out of his way to make Cesaro look like a million bucks. Cesaro goes upstairs but Orton catches him with a hard right. Cesaro’s crotched up top and Orton follows him up to give him a superplex. Cesaro headbutts him off and delivers a SUPER BIG ax handle. He bows at Miz after to mock him. He locks in a headlock that Orton fights out of. Randy starts to ORTON UP but Cesaro his the Michinoku Driver for two! Orton’s still having a hard time mounting any sort of momentum at the ten minute mark. Cesaro has Orton in another headlock and Orton fights out again! DROPKICK BY ORTON! Orton lifts him on to the top rope. Looks like he’s trying for that superplex again. And he hits it from the top rope! Both men are down as we approach our second commercial break!

~commercial break~

We join Orton and Cesaro in progress as they exchange BOO and YES punches. The crowd is biting. Cesaro whips him into the ropes and locks on a sleeper. It doesn’t take Orton very long to get back on his feet. Orton makes it to his feet but Cesaro locks on another sleeper! Randy quickly delivers a side suplex to escape. The ref begins a ten count and both men make it to their knees to exchange blows at five. Cesaro corners him with uppercuts but Orton fights back! He hits a powerslam and the crowd is on their feet! Cesaro whips Orton into the ropes and catches him with the Very European Elbow! TWO AND A HALF! Cesaro heads upstairs for another ax handle but Orton catches him with the dropkick! 1… 2… NO! Cesaro rolls out to the apron and Orton hits his signature DDT after Cesaro attempted to fight it off for a second. Aaaaand boom goes the dynamite. Orton is signaling for the RKO but here’s The Shield! NO CONTEST. It helped that these two started their finishing sequence before the second commercial break to make up for the non finish.

OFFICIAL RESULT: No Contest @ 23:42 via Shield Attack
RATING: ***

– Miz comes in to the ring and stands next to Orton! It’s two on three! Reigns delivers a huge spear to Miz that takes him out and now all three men focus on Orton. They lift Orton up and give him the triple powerbomb in the center of the ring! These two had a great match going before the non finish. Cesaro rolled out of the ring during all of this and comes back in to the ring to deliver a Neutralizer to an unconscious Miz.

~commercial break~

RAW REBOUND: This week they covered The Rock calling out CM Punk and the subsequent verbal
exchange/brawl.

– Looks like Cole is calling this alone as Miz is gone selling his injuries from The Shield attack just now. BRAD MADDOX joins Michael Cole on commentary out of nowhere. He sends us to commercial break as Cole exclaims that it’s his job to do that. Maddox is so natural on the mic. I’m glad they didn’t just write him off after the Ryback/Punk HIAC angle. Do you think there’s any sort of long term plan for him though?

~commercial time~

The Uso’s vs. The Prime Time Players

The Uso’s get a MAJOR (canned) POP. Maddox says that the female viewership of Main Event went up 25 to 37% when he joined commentary. Fair numbers. Maddox quickly tries to send us to commercial despite the producer not telling him to do so. Michael Cole tells him this but Maddox ignores him and begins to talk about the traffic and weather. Cole mentions that we’re still on air and Maddox welcomes us back despite the fact that we never left. Normally I’d complain about a wrestler on commentary detracting from the match but this is pretty entertaining. Not gonna lie. Cole sends us to a real commercial break this time and so far it’s been your typical back and forth tag match. The PTP’s stare down the Uso’s before the break.

~commercial time~

Cole welcomes us back to the action and Maddox interrupts Cole so that he can welcome us back instead. Titus is isolated in the corner. Titus, back on offense, boots Jey Uso in the face and the camera pans to Maddox on his phone. Cole asks him what he’s doing and Brad says “I’m sorry. I’m with you”. Maddox mentions that the Rumble is coming up in “a couple of months” as Young gets a nearfall. Young locks a headlock on Jimmy(?) as the crowd rallies behind him. Jimmy throws him to the outside and Titus rolls Young in so that he doesn’t get counted out. Not a good idea as he gets atomic dropped and hit with a splash in the corner. Cole calls Young “Titus” and then complains about Brad’s commentary. Brad says that the titles are on the line before Michael corrects him. “Oh, well they’re playing for pride.” SPLASH OFF THE TOP! THREE COUNT!

OFFICIAL RESULT: The Uso’s @ 12:00 via pin
RATING: *3/4

OVERALL:: Orton and Cesaro wrestled another good match but the non finish left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I’m a Shield mark but these attacks are starting to grow stale. Brad Maddox was a nice surprise on commentary (and actually had me laughing) but the match was nothing to write home about. It was a solid episode of Main Event but that’s about it.